If you're the one doing the cooking, I'd just start making every meal gluten free...family should be supportive of you. Homemade gluten free stuff isn't that difficult to make taste good. Your older kids want to try it, will your youngest really be able to tell the difference if no one makes a big deal out of it?
Maybe you shouldn't tell your kids that their problems are caused by wheat, I don't know. But at the very least you can tell them that not eating it anymore should make everyone feel a little better. If it clears up their tummy troubles, or other problems...thats fantastic. You can teach them about how to eat gluten free outside your home because it's healthier.
Maybe your husband is in denial...so much of what we normally eat is wheat based. If he doesn't have issues eating wheat, that means he can keep eating everything and anything...if he has seen the struggles you've gone through trying to become gluten free, i think that would push him even further into denial about the possibility of it being his problem as well.
But can anyone get mad at you for changing your family's diet to make them healthier? I don't think so. If you make that the focus, and it just happens to be gluten free because thats what YOU need to be healthy...thats just better for everyone right?
By the way, when I've eaten gluten I get extremely irritable and I'm prone to wicked tempermental outbursts that are completely outside my control. There is no reason your daughter isn't the same.

We canadians have slightly different thanksgiving traditions, and we already had ours but we will be having a similar repeat at christmas.
turkey, gravy, mashed potatos, lots of veggies, gluten-free sausage stuffing, other stuffing that isn't gluten-free, other family might have yorkshire puddings (we haven't attempted to recreate that one yet) and either cheesecake with a ginger snap crust (i dont recommend eating one of those plain though...I was curious, it was a bad experience ) or maybe another apple crisp (yay oatmeal in small amounts!)
For stuffing we normally use regular gluten-free bread. I saved up the bits and pieces and froze them as I made bread. This year my mom made it ahead of time with bread crumbs. Honestly, it wasn't that great...chunks of bread make a much nicer texture. Big thing if you're new to it, is don't forget extra liquid. I belive we have always used primarily rice based breads. They always seem to need more moisture.
We usually use cornstarch for thickening gravy. This past thanksgiving, another family member did the turkey and bought one there was no way i could touch. So my mom got me a turkey breast and a package of gluten-free gravy she found...its just not the same lol. I wouldn't reccomend trying tapioca starch for gravy though...maybe its just me but it has the odd sweet taste/aftertaste. I've had a few pizza crusts made with it and it just tastes odd. I imagine it would do the same to gravy. It does taste good in small amounts in christmas cookies though!
We bought gluten-free ginger snaps from the grocery store and used to make a real crust, like you would with graham crackers...until my mom found a clever idea. Muffin cups! Just put a cookie in the bottom, fill with your cheesecake mix, and bake. Makes cute little individual sized cheesecakes.
OH and can't forget all the delicious gluten free christmas cookies, and snacks before dinner <3 yum...is it christmas yet?!

"The Gluten-Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread Mix"
I've made that with and without a breadmaker. It is a mix, but its a decent white bread. I don't think I've tried Udi's...I've stopped even trying to buy commercial gluten free bread. Just from what I know in general of gluten free bread, I doubt there is a whole lot of difference...unless Udi's has the magical ability to be light, fluffy AND gluten free.
But honestly, thats a nice bread mix. I usually slice it thinly because it is on the dense side....but yumm grilled cheese sandwiches!
I can't recall any difference between using the breadmaker, or making it without. Breadmaker may have taken longer though...I was using the oven for something else so it was warm, when I made it without I just placed it on top to rise under a tea towel.
I make a very fluffy banana bread with just a pan and a recipe, but I'm pretty sure thats not the same lol.

I just looked up some pictures on google, and some of them look very much like her hands. Except her hands are completely red, and in many pictures only the actual spots and the immediate area are red. If it is Dermatitis Herpetiformis, could the redness be from our thinner skin? She may have even done extra damage with the steroid creams. I also don't believe she has ever really had anything on the backs of her hands/fingers.
I will definately ask her if she has tried dapsone.
"Stinging rather than itching, inflamed areas around the sores that are bright red or purple, tendency for the sores to run in lines, tendency to be similar on both sides of the body, blisters that yield bloody fluid when broken. Often worse on areas of the skin that have been traumatised but not limited to those. "
Her hands have appeared purple in spots, especially when they are particularly sore and swollen. I think you might say they flare up in lines, she will have them appear along a finger at the same time, or down the side of her palm, etc. Both of her hands are bad. I know they are like blisters, but I don't know if the fluid is bloody at all. Her hands have never been traumatized but her skin does get a real workout there. Because of what she does, she is constantly using them, massaging, using skin products (including scrubs)...I don't really think that counts as traumatized though.
The rash on her back at the moment looks more like smaller hives spread out a bit than dermatitis herpetiformis. It doesn't look that severe.
Could gluten intolerance aggrevate eczema? I was kind of hoping she would be able to find a cause for her pain, just so she would know how to make it go away...I'll work on convincing her to go completely gluten free anyways. I imagine its much harder as a "real adult" than a young person to give up everything you're so used to. Pretty unlikely that going gluten free could make anything worse right? In theory? lol. I know its caused some problems for me, but problems I'd much rather live with than what life was like before gluten-free.
Thanks for your help everyone If anyone else has something to suggest or add I would love to hear it!

I just read your post about your mum's hands. It is one of my worst and most persistent area. gluten-free has done wonders to my head to toe itching! I've spend 100s of hours trawling dermo/medical websites/images. Perhaps you could email me pictures or post on here(I'm not sure how to though)

I just read your post about your mum's hands. It is one of my worst and most persistent area. gluten-free has done wonders to my head to toe itching! I've spend 100s of hours trawling dermo/medical websites/images. Perhaps you could email me pictures or post on here(I'm not sure how to though)

She is lactose intolerant, so very little dairy. Some lactose free milk in her tea in the mornings. Occasionally some cheese. My brother is even less tolerant of lactose than her, so they no longer have dairy in actual meals very often anymore.
I have dizzy spells, she has...don't even know what to call them. But you can tell immediately that she is having one. It is far more severe and even potentially dangerous...
She barely touches plants, and not alot of spices in the house. Nothing uncommon anyways.
Thing is, she works with her hands. So right now she cannot work at all...shes an aesthetician, thats why they allergy tested all of her products. And none of the ones she uses regularly have wheat in them as far as I know.
Everyone is at a loss as to whats causing this. I'm positive stress isn't helping, her hands get bad and cause stress which makes them worse etc. And another family member has been having health complications which hasn't helped anything for anyone. I think it might be difficult to get her to really commit to going completely gluten free...she didn't go through what I did, that has made me stick with it. Thats why I was wondering if anyone had a similar skin condition that cleared up with going gluten free...to help show her that other people had similar problems and they got better with it.

My mother has an extremely painful 'rash' on her hands that is now occasionally spreading to other parts of her body. The dermatologists cannot find a cause or diagnose it. They have done all sorts of allergy testing, including all the products she works with. No reactions to anything at all except I think she had a very mild one to nickle.
Originally creams and steroid creams helped clear it up, but as its gotten worse the only thing that helps now is taking prednisone. Which causes a whole boatload of it's own issues. She does have a cream recommended by one of her doctors that relieves some of the symptoms though, with no medications in it so she can use it as often as she likes. I got mad at her before for using steroid creams more often than she was supposed to.
She gets water blisters on her palms, and on her fingers (palm side and sides). Now it is kind of just this giant mess of pain. Her skin will split and her hands are extremely dry no matter what, she can barely open her hands flat and when she does, its painful to do. They scale up pretty bad, and are swelling alot. She hasn't been able to wear her rings in a long time now because they are so swollen. Her hands also radiate heat like little ovens.
It used to clear up a bit on it's own, and then come back. But now it will only clear up with the steriods.
She had the celiac blood test, but she was negative. I had it too and I was negative, but I had been gluten free for some time already. (the doctors insisted it didn't matter.) I have a clinical diagnosis of celiac, but no biopsy results because none of my doctors would listen and told me it was in my head. I was half way to dying before my rhumatologist just told me to go gluten free and get better.
The thing is, I spent the summer with her and my family and she was mostly eating what I ate, aka gluten free. Her hands weren't too bad at all and they would get bad, clear up, get bad, clear up. She was feeling better overall by eating less gluten. Now in the last 3 months she has been eating wheat again frequently and her hands are extremely bad.
They just say it must be eczema but we don't know why. It is also occuring slightly on her feet. She currently has a spotted rash on her back, that looks more like hives (but that may have been caused by some antibotics they had her try recently to clear up her hands). Growing up she always had this painful rash on her legs. It was spots that would bleed, but probably because they were so itchy she would itch in her sleep. Again, absolutely no reason for it and it went on for years. Thinking back now, the rash on her legs may have gone right around the same time as her hands started up. And her hands are so itchy she can always find something to rub them on, and does it without even knowing it.
Does this sound like it could be caused by gluten, and is there any tests they can do to find out if it is? Besides the blood test or a biopsy on her intestines?
Besides the rash, she has stomach troubles, and nasty spells that sound like what some people have described here. Last only minutes, dizzy, her world kind of just stops.

You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free by Roben Ryberg, I second gluten free on a shoestring, and the internet.
You can find loads of good recipes on the internet (plus its free lol)
Biggest difference I've found (as I remember it) between gluten and gluten-free things tends to be a texture thing, moisture, or funny aftertaste.
Also, for baked goods the best thing to do in my experience is test on strangers If they enjoy your cookies/squares/cake etc and they can't tell that it is gluten free, or something is different...you can consider yourself successful.
Once you get started with baking gluten free, it gets a bit easier I can email you an easy christmas cookie recipe that I had good success with at a bazaar if you'd like.

That sometimes you have to lie and say you have a wheat allergy just to get people to take you seriously.
People calling gluten free diets/gluten free products in grocery stores just a "fad".
When the person closest to you in the whole entire world doesn't take you seriously and says you'll grow out of it. Despite already being an adult.
How so many products on the shelves out there are full of weird stuff. Sometimes you just want a brownie to taste like a brownie, not a fig newton.
When people buy you gluten free stuff without being asked. And then expect you to give them money for it.
Maybe this isn't an annoying thing exactly, but coming to the realization that the majority of the people in the food services industry know so little about the food they are serving you it should make everyone run screaming for the hills.
And I could go on lol. I can't pick a most annoying thing.

I just wanted to say you would be surprised how easy it is to cut out ALOT of gluten from your family's diet if you're the one cooking. Although it wasn't a gluten free home, I had my family eating gluten free about 90% of the time this summer while I was staying with them (and they were better for it, even if they might not admit it!)
I know you're worried about everything else, and I doubt I have much helpful to say on that part. But I just wanted you to know that it won't be as difficult as you think, even with lots of little kids I can share a few great recipes with you for baked treats that your kids will eat and not even know the difference if you'd like. And suggest a decent bread mix, that makes lovely bread (considering) WITHOUT a breadmaker. Purchasing gluten-free prepared foods is generally a huge waste of money. Alot of it tastes terrible, even stuff from bakeries is dry/goes bad immediately/cardboardy. At least in my experience.

http://www.glutenfreefox.com/articles/dr-vikki-on-gluten-in-beauty.html
maybe it comes from stuff like that? no clue if its true or not, but I'd rather not risk it. Personally I feel better knowing that none of my toiletries or beauty products have gluten in them, just in case.
If you live in a home where the other members of your family/household still eat gluten foods...you have no idea how much contamination you're still dealing with. I've been gluten free for 2 years now, and until this summer I lived with roommates that ate wheat. We had all our own foods, we had a dishwasher, I used my own pots, I avoided wooden utensils, no toaster sharing...and I was still getting cross contamination in what I ate. And I was being extremely careful. I didn't even realize how much crappier it was making me feel until I moved into an apartment alone and declared my home gluten free. No wheat is allowed in the door! Honestly, I just started feeling better overall because there is no risk of crumbs or anything like that anymore.
Speaking honestly, I'm not sure its possible to ever really get it completely off your mind. It is something people who don't know anyone with a gluten intolerance just don't get. And I don't know about anyone else, but it upsets me alot sometimes how people act about it. It is really difficult not to let it define you sometimes, at least when there are others around. We just have to learn to accept it as being part of who we are (something I'm still working on) and doing our best to become healthy again. It is really hard when you can't even get the motivation up to do something to feel better because you're just feeling so sick all the time. I'm at that spot right now and I need to get over it and get to work.
I think what would help the most is making sure you have someone in your life you can just vent to. Even if you're just writing in a journal to get all your frustration and anger out. Release the negativity and all that. It can be really hard to break out of feeling sorry for yourself, and it might come back sometimes. You just need to surround yourself with positive and supportive people.

I've had alot of issues with doctors and the tests I've had. I've had most of them done, but it didn't do any good.
When I had my endoscopy they decided not to take a biopsy while I was under and they were already down there. Because everything looked pink and healthy. Since then, I have read that in childhood Celiac, the damage to the small intestine may not be widespread and can occur in just parts. So it would be very possible that the area they looked at was healthy, but there was damage further on. I may have been an older teen through this, but I've had all the childhood symptoms of Celiac. Which went away when I started my diet last November. They're only coming back in a different form these last few weeks. I'm having issues with my sleeping again, and I wasn't for a while now. Feels like I am running backwards.
So long story short, I don't have an official diagnosis. Clinical maybe, but no biopsy. And if I want the biopsy, I have to drop out of school and move back in with my parents (again, had to do that once already thanks to this) and go back to hell for 6+ months until the blood work comes back properly and then have the biopsy again when everything looks fine.
I've already paid for the blood work once, because my doctor insisted that I did not need to be eating gluten to do it. So obviously it came back fine, I hadn't intentionally eaten gluten in 5-6 months at the time.
Maybe I need a new doctor who is familiar with Celiac and similar medical things. My first doctor said I couldn't have it because an allergy prick test came back with no wheat allergies.

The nausea was a constant symptom before I went gluten-free. Before I went gluten-free when I was vomiting blood I got a huge run around where when the doctors couldn't find the actual cause, they went back and contradicted several things they said earlier. But I was checked for ulcers and tried treating them with no help.
Definately not pregnant, and no medication changes. No increase in dairy consumption, I don't eat much of it to begin with. But my soy intake has probably increased, I notice it on alot of ingredient lists now. And considering I ate a stir fry with soy sauce a few hours ago and about an hour after I got a tummy ache...it seems likely!
So do you think doing an unprocessed foods thing would be the best way to figure out whats up? How does that work, don't eat anything but fresh foods for how long? I'll google but if anyone has some information it would be really great. I have no idea where to start with it, but it could help right?

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Celiac.com was founded in 1995 by Scott Adams, author of Cereal Killers, founder and publisher of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, and founder of The Gluten-Free Mall, who had a single goal for the site: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living a happy, healthy gluten-free life!